Bet She'arim - Jewish necropolis

Some archaeological surveys of Bet Shearim (today located in the town of Kiryat Tivon, southeast of Haifa) were conducted in the second half of the nineteenth century. In the Second Temple period, Bet Shearim was a small settlement in Galilee, built on the top of a hill, with dwelling houses, farmyards etc. Only in the 1930s another part of Bet Shearim, due to which the place is of exceptional archaeological value, was discovered by chance: the City of the Dead.

In some 3rd century A.D., the sanhedrin (Jewish highest judicial council) moved to Bet Shearim. The head of the sanhedrin, rabbi Yehudah Hanassi, died in 220 A.D., and was (according to today's most popular opinion) buried in Bet Shearim. Some say his grave is actually in Sepphoris, where he spent his last several years; nevertheless, when in the 3rd-4th centuries the city became well-known in the Jewish world, many Jews wished to be buried here, near the grave of the Rabbi.

As a result, many burial caves were hewn in the slopes of the hill. One of those caves was found by local farmers in 1930s. Today, more than 30 caves of the necropolis are unearthed, some of them are open to visitors.

The burial caves of Bet Shearim have entrances with facades and doors which turn easily on their stone hinges. There are many inscriptions and decorations on the coffins and the walls inside the caves, some of them even contain scenes from Greek mythology.

Near Bet Shearim there is a farmland that belongs to the Zaid family. Alexander Zaid (leader of "The Guard", organization of defenders of Jewish settlement in Palestine) settled here in 1926. Probably, Bet Shearim burial caves were discovered by someone of his family or workers. Zaid was murdered here in 1938, and his family erected a monument to him on a hill nearby. Until recently, it was the only monument in Israel, portraying a man on horseback.